July 6-12, 2020

 This week was so fun! We went on vacation with both families and it was so fun, so much driving, and we got zero sleep. 

Monday we started the day by playing tennis. At first it was just me and Dad. Then Mom and Ben joined us. Paul was shooting hoops behind Mom and Dad before deciding to have a 3 person team with them. He did pretty good! Ben was a good teammate. We played a little basketball after with Jacob, James, Dad, and Ben. Paul, Jacob and I won best 2 out of 3!

Later, we went canoeing on Swan Lake. Dad got to be in the one person ducky that was clearly meant for a child but he squeezed in and had a good time. Jacob and Brianna went on the kayak. Paul, Ben, and I went on the  2 person canoe.. We ended up flipping the canoe. The water was freezing! The boys took care of the canoe and I walked on the shore back to the dock. In the afternoon we played pickleball and basketball. Aunt Chris made some delicious lasagna for dinner. Ben fulfilled a merit badge by leading a family discussion about continuing our grandparents legacy. He did a great job.

Tuesday we woke up to a lightning storm at 5:30 AM. Paul got up and helped Dad bring in the stuff outside so it didn't get ruined in the rain. He stayed up to watch the storm and the sunrise. We were going to go hiking in Glacier NP but it was stormy so no one wanted to hike. We ended up taking a group down Swan River and that turned out to be way fun. We took some of Chad's kids with tubes and the kayak. Unfortunately, the kayak sank and one of the tubes popped, so we didn't stay on the river for as long as we were hoping but luckily no one got hurt.

We had a delicious dinner that Mom made for everyone. She made Nacho Chicken and there were no leftovers! And trust me, there was a lot of food.

After dinner we let the food settle then played lightning with everyone. Mostly everyone went over to the volleyball court after that but some of the boys, including Paul, stayed to play more basketball. I just hung out with Brianna and Lizzy until we went to bed. 

The next morning Dad and I snuck in a game of tennis before breakfast. Ben, Jacob, Brianna, Lizzy and Paul and I left to drive home. We got to Salt Lake around 6:30.

Thursday, Brianna and I finished harvesting in the garden what we didn't get the day before. We got a lot of snap peas and yummy berries.

Paul and I met up with Mike and Wendy for a late breakfast at Penny Ann's (my favorite). We talked about the logistics of moving and made a plan for when we move on July 20th. Afterwards we called Matt to see when they wanted to leave to go camping in canyonlands. Then things got a little crazy. Paul wanted Mike to come and both of them said southern Utah is too hot right now. Then they made the impulse decision to roadtrip to Crescent City until Sunday. They called Matt back and him and Hannah said they wanted to come! Even though it added 8 hours to the drive. So we packed up and left around 5.

We made it to Reno that night. The next day we stopped a few places. We stopped in Auburn, CA as well as San Francisco, Avenue of the Giants in the Redwoods, and made it to Crescent City after dark. It was so fun to make it back to SF before we moved to Texas. It has been 3 years since we were there on our honeymoon!

The next day Mike and Wendy went on a bike ride while we (Paul, me, Matt, Hannah) did our own thing. We stopped at the beach in the morning and just climbed over rocks and looked at sea life growing on the rocks close to the shore. Then we drove down to Patrick's Point and hiked a little around there. We got lunch and spent the afternoon in the Trees of Mystery. We walked on these bridges in the treetops, looked at all the interesting tree formations, rode the gondola up to the top and hiked the mile down, we went everywhere. Covered every inch. It was amazing!

We met up with Mike and Wendy for dinner and I got some clam chowder in a bread bowl. It was so delicious. Then we went to the beach, walked to the lighthouse, watched the sunset. We saw a couple of whales! That was so cool. And we had a bonfire that night.

The next morning we got up and drove straight from Crescent City to Salt Lake. We got there at midnight and got back to Logan at 1:30 AM. It was so last minute but such a blast!